The condition of some of the town's urban roads has driven the Motueka Community Board to ask Tasman District Council where ratepayers' roading money is being spent.

The board was also concerned that levied petrol tax would not be returned to the region in the foreseeable future under the Government's policy to fund major city roads.

Chairman David Ogilvie said lengthy sections of some of the town's roads were in poor condition.

Motueka councillor Barry Dowler said some of the issue lay with the current contractor, who had under-priced his tender and was now not seeking a contract rollover.

But David said between $22 and $24 million was being spent around the district on roads and he wanted to know if Motueka was getting its fair share.

Barry said with the cost of roading material and contracts continually on the rise it was hard for the council to fund all the work. He added there was a lot of less visible back-country roads which had been upgraded.

The board resolved to ask the council for a breakdown of the spend on Motueka's roading. It also resolved to ask the New Zealand Transport Agency how much money had been collected from and redistributed to the region through petrol levies over the last three years. The board planned to pose the query through the council, which meets with the NZTA next month.

Board members were concerned that high priority recommendations, like the proposed Pah/High streets traffic lights and intersection issues, had not been addressed.

Barry said he understood no major NZTA projects would be funded in Nelson-Tasman for the foreseeable future. The levied money was being directed to roading projects in Auckland, Dunedin and Christchurch, he said.

Board member Cliff Satherley said he did not mind helping other towns but there had to be an end point. The council should work out how much left the region in petrol levies annually. Barry said the region had received a share of the national spend in the $30 million Ruby Bay bypass.